KAKAMMPI News

The Arroyo administration will host the Second Global Forum on Migration and Development this October. Bulatlat interviewed Jose Enrique Africa, research head of IBON Foundation, regarding overseas Filipino workers’ remittances and Philippine development. Bulatlat: The BSP said that the Philippines is the 4th biggest remittance receiver in the world. How do the Filipino people benefit from this? Africa: The Philippines is the largest among the most migrant- and remittance-dependent countries in the world. That so many millions of Filipinos are forced to go abroad and that the country is so dependent on remittances actually underscore the great failure of the government to build a solid domestic economy. Of course, remittances are a tremendous help for OFWs and their families and remittances are a vital source of stable foreign exchange. But these should not be used to divert from the more important point of why the domestic economy remains so backward and why Filipinos are forced to go...

MANILA, Philippines - Many countries in the Asian region are experiencing economic growth that results to more infrastructure and industrial projects. To accomplish the said projects, wealthy Asian countries need the services and expertise of foreign workers and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are more often than not, the top choice. More overseas jobs are waiting for professional and skilled OFWs as they are in-demand in Asia, Rosalinda Baldoz, former administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said, "This was despite competition posed by other labor-sending countries and restriction on labor and nationalization policies of some host countries." Baldoz said Taiwan and South Korea remained as top destinations for Filipino factory workers. With the new hiring program for OFWs in Taiwan, there are also emerging markets for IT professionals and health care workers. South Korea on the other hand is in need of skilled OFWs for their construction and ...

MANILA, Philippines - Representatives from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) are set to go to South Korea to renegotiate a deal for the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) there. POEA administrator Jennifer Manalili said the representatives would leave the country within this week or next week to renegotiate a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with their counterparts in Seoul. “Our MOU with them (South Korea) is set to expire so we are sending a team there," Manalili said in an interview with reporters on Monday. According to Manalili, the talks with the South Korean government would also include the possible deployment of Filipino hotel service workers and information technology workers. “Our quota for this year is 11,000 and we weren’t able to fill it up," Manalili said. Manalili said the POEA was informed that South Korea needed overseas workers for its hotels and banks. Carmelita Dimzon, newly installed chief of the Overseas Workers Welfar...

MANILA, Philippines - Pirates have refused to turn over to the Philippine government the remains of a Filipino seaman who died during a hijacking incident off Somalia last month. Esteban Conejos Jr, undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), said that according to the Somali pirates, they would only release the remains of Jason Sumagat once other crew members of the Malaysian ship MT Bunga Melati are freed. “We have been trying to request that the body be brought back but the pirates have insisted that it has to stay. They said it will be released at the same time with the Filipinos," Conejos said, adding that the information was coursed through the ship’s manning agency, which is the one directly negotiating with the hijackers. Sumagat’s body is stored in the ship’s freezer, according to Conejos. The DFA said Sumagat died in an “accident" when pirates took control of the vessel last August 21. The DFA continues to coordinate with M...

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino World War II veterans should be content with the "one- time big-time" compensation being offered under a bill recently passed at the US House of Representatives, according to a leader of a veterans' group based in the Philippines. “The Filner bill is better than nothing," Sandiganbayan retired justice Manuel Pamaran, vice president of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP), told GMANews.TV in a recent interview. Critics say US Rep. Bob Filner's H.R. 6897 or the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2008, is a “watered down" version of US Senator Daniel Akaka’s S. 1315. H.R. 6897 would only provide Filipino veterans in the US a one-time compensation of $15,000 (about P695,000), and $9,000 (about P416,000) for those living in the Philippines. S. 1315 or the Veterans’ Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007 offers a more comprehensive benefits package to Filipino veterans, which includes providing married Filipino veterans living in ...

SUSUPE, Saipan - A non-profit community-based group in the US territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is offering cash reward of up to $1,000 to anyone who can lead authorities to the whereabouts of a Filipino worker who was reported missing since July 29. Jim Arenovski, president of the NMI Crime Stoppers on Monday told GMANews.TV that his group would use its resources to help locate 47-year-old Alex Matubis, who had been working on Saipan Island as a draftsman and surveyor for almost 23 years. Crime Stoppers uses a 24-hour tip line for informants who are not required to identify themselves or give any personal information. Calls cannot be traced. Tip lines do not have caller IDs. People can also pass information anonymously via a secure online information form. “They can call 234-7272 or visit our Web site, to provide us with information. We offer up to $1,000 reward depending on the provided information that will lead us to his (Matubis’) whereabouts,...

MANILA, Philippines - The five Filipino seafarers who were freed by their Somali captors are well and will soon go back home. "They are reported to be in good health," Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Claro Cristobal on Monday told GMANews.TV in a text message. "The DFA is now coordinating with the ship owner on the repatriation of the Filipino seafarers," added Cristobal. The Filipinos were among the 41 crew members of Malaysian tanker M/V Bunga Melati 5 that was released by the pirates after the vessel was hijacked last August 25. The DFA identified the freed Filipino seamen as: Eduardo Lasprillas, Aldrin Palomo, Manuel America Jr; Rhageb Salabao, and Ulyseise Maguslog. Among the Filipinos abducted was Jason Sumagat, who died during the hijacking incident of another Malaysian ship, MT Bunga Melati. About eight ships with Filipino seafarers have been hijacked near Somali waters and the Gulf of Aden in the past three months. One of the ves...

MANILA, Philippines - The five Filipino seafarers who were freed by their Somali captors are well and will soon go back home. "They are reported to be in good health," Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Claro Cristobal on Monday told GMANews.TV in a text message. "The DFA is now coordinating with the ship owner on the repatriation of the Filipino seafarers," added Cristobal. The Filipinos were among the 41 crew members of Malaysian tanker M/V Bunga Melati 5 that was released by the pirates after the vessel was hijacked last August 25. The DFA identified the freed Filipino seamen as: Eduardo Lasprillas, Aldrin Palomo, Manuel America Jr; Rhageb Salabao, and Ulyseise Maguslog. Among the Filipinos abducted was Jason Sumagat, who died during the hijacking incident of another Malaysian ship, MT Bunga Melati. About eight ships with Filipino seafarers have been hijacked near Somali waters and the Gulf of Aden in the past three months. One of the ves...

The Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services, Inc (IDEALS), a non-stock, non-profit, non-government organization is providing free legal assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) under its Migrants' Defense Program. IDEALS is a partner of the Hague Process on Refugees and Migration, a member of the Club of the Hague. For inquiries call: (+632) 436-5470 or e-mail ideals05@yahoo.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said it would ask the government of the United Arab Emirates not to drive away the thousands of overseas Filipino workers stranded along UAE’s border with Oman. DFA acting secretary Esteban Conejos Jr said they would first coordinate with UAE officials before deciding whether or not to bring the workers home, adding that repatriation was currently not yet an option. “(The decision to repatriate the OFWs) will depend on how the UAE government responds to our request for leniency," Conejos told GMANews.TV in an interview. He also assured that a team from the Philippine Embassy in Dubai would meet with the stranded OFWs at the border to check their condition. Conejos said that the new policy on the issuance of visas in UAE had been implemented on July 29. The new regulation, which directs previous visit visa holders to reapply as tourists, led to the rejection of thousands of visa applications from the Filipinos....

MANILA, Philippines — Government should seriously regulate and control the deployment of workers in the Middle East to prevent the continued increase in the numbers of reported stranded Filipinos, an alliance of overseas Filipino workers said on Saturday. Migrante-Middle East urged the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Labor and Employment to take action as it reported that there are now 2,700 Filipinos stranded along the Oman-United Arab Emirates(UAE) border and 5,000 more in the Iran-UAE border. The figures are in addition to the thousands of runaway Filipino workers that are government shelters or staying with friends in various countries in the Middle East. Many of the stranded OFWs were on a short-term non-renewable visit visa presumably to visit relative OFWs in the UAE but whose main purpose is to look for a job. The lack of jobs in the Philippines forced many Filipinos to look for work abroad. "Many OFs (overseas Filipinos) were forced to leave the United...

MANILA, Philippines- A militant group on Saturday accused the Arroyo administration of also being guilty of violating the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) for not doing anything to solve the increasing cases of OFW abuse. Citing a study from the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), Migrante International said that even studies reaffirm their claims that the Arroyo administration is as guilty as the abusive employers who cause suffering to Filipino migrant workers. "We have long been accusing the Philippine government as standing idly by as cases upon cases of our abused compatriots pile up in their midst," said Migrante chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado. HRW on September 23 said many cases of migrant worker abuse never go to trial "as workers are unable to contact their embassies, are unfamiliar with the legal system, or have been threatened with spurious counter-charges of theft, witchcraft, or adultery." "Our kababayans who leave their abusive e...

MANILA, Philippines - Saudi Arabia’s Court of Appeals has upheld the death sentence imposed by a general court in Jeddah on three Filipinos involved in what has become known as the Jeddah ‘chop-chop’ killings two years ago, Migrante International said on Saturday. Migrante said the appellate court released its decision on Sept. 15 affirming the conviction of Edison Gonzales, his brother Rolando, and Eduardo Arcilla. The court also affirmed the conviction of four others accused of helping cover up the crime: Victoriano Alfonso, Efren Francisco Dumaun, Omar Basilio, and Joel Sinamban. Migrante said the appellate court increased the penalty against the four accomplices from eight years to 10 years imprisonment and from 1,000 lashes to 1,200 lashes. Migrante did not mention the source of the information for security reasons. Saudi Arabia’s courts seldom make a public announcement of their verdicts pending disclosure of such to the parties involved. The accused, who are all languishing at a...

MANILA, Philippines - Some 4,000 Filipinos are among more than 5,000 visa changers stranded on Kish Island in Iran since a new visa law in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) went into effect. Online news site Khaleej Times reported that Filipinos prefer to go to Kish for visa change as Kish offers an affordable, easier and cheaper exit from the UAE. Reza Ardalan, head of the Extension Office, Residence Permit Office in Kish, said before the implementation of the new UAE visa law, his office used to process an average of 70 applications for extension of their stay in Kish everyday. "After this, specifically just before the start of Ramadan, the number of stranded visa changers has doubled to 150 daily," he said. Before the new visa law, he said the Indians used to top the list. Now, he said they are second to Filipinos, followed by Arabs such as Moroccans, Egyptians, Ethiopians and others. Most of the stranded Filipinos are male. Every month, at least five children come to apply f...

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will host this Thursday the second Global Forum on Migration and Development to tackle issues concerning the welfare and empowerment of migrants. A Malacañang statement said the Philippines was the unanimous choice of the 125 member states of the International Office of Migration (IOM) and 16 observer states. The overall theme of GFMD Manila 2008 is "Protecting and Empowering Migrants for Development." President Arroyo invited IOM director general William Lacey Swing Friday to attend the forum. The GFMD is an annual international conference on migration and development issues, following the High Level Dialogue on Migration organized by the United Nations (UN) in New York in September 2006. The first GFMD was held in Brussels, Belgium on July 9-11, 2007. It featured back-to-back sessions by civil society groups (Civil Society Day) and the governmental groups (Governmental Days). Participants tackled three themes, including Human capital de...

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Manuel Villar Jr has urged the Foreign Affairs department to form an emergency multi-sectoral group to assist the more than 7,000 Filipinos stranded in Middle East. In a statement, Villar said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), and the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. should work with the DFA in forming concrete measures to help the stranded OFWs. "Government must show firm resolve in ending this crisis. Assistance to our more than 7000 stranded kababayans must be immediately extended," Villar said. According to Villar, there are 2,7000 Filipinos stranded along the Oman-United Arab Emirates (UAE) border and 5,000 more in the Iran-UAE border. At the same time, Villar also urged the Philippine embassy in Oman to do their best to appeal to the Oman sultanate to help resolve the crisis. "In the meantime, we expect the embassy officials to help di...

MANILA, Philippines - Some 24 Filipinos are now detained at a maximum security prison in Trinidad and Tobago after being arrested for working without permits, according to an online news site Sunday. A report in Caribbean Net News said that law enforcement agents swooped down on the workers in Roxborough in Tobago and picked up 36 persons, including a 30-year-old civil engineer. Also arrested were 11 Chinese and one Guyanese national. All of them, including the Filipinos, were brought to mainland Trinidad and detained at the maximum security prison at Golden Grove. Philippine Honorary Consul in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Marie Arvani, visited the Filipinos and said they were well-treated, but they complained about the meals. The report said the Filipinos and Chinese arrived at Crown Point Airport in Tobago with a one-way ticket and were promised return passage by their employers. It said Arvani is to meet with officials of the Ministry of National Security on the matter. - GMANews.TV

MANILA, Philippines - Recruitment groups have thrown their support behind the decision of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) to review the deployment ban in Iraq. Emmanuel Geslani, recruitment consultant, said recruitment industries particularly those deploying overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East had been drumming up for the lifting of the ban that the government imposed in 2004 following the abduction of truck driver Angelo de la Cruz in Iraq. “The legalization of our workers in that country will give them high salaries, proper protection and welfare measures like war risk insurance and bigger death benefits," Geslani said. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque in a separate interview admitted that since the deployment ban, the number of OFWs entering the war-torn country continue to increase. Roque said that based on reports they received the number has now climbed to 15,000. He said his office is asking the Department of Foreign Affairs to re-assess the sit...

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos working abroad—and the huge amounts of money they send home every month—have spawned a generation of “spoiled kids," a sociology professor said. “OFW migration might be creating a generation of instant gratification and spoiled children," Dr. Ma. Cynthia Rose Bautista, a sociology professor at the University of the Philippines, said during a Makati City forum. In her presentation at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) on Tuesday, Bautista said that parents usually splurge their kids with material luxuries—such as cellphones—to make up for their absence in the family. Parents also often gauge their children’s good academic performance as a positive effect of their migration, Bautista added. “If they look at the academics they would hardly see any negative effects," said Bautista, citing a recent study indicating that migrant children perform better in school. “But deep inside here is a person who is trying to look for a ...

MANILA, Philippines - An official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Wednesday opposed a proposal to require returning overseas Filipino workers to undergo screening for HIV and AIDS. Father Savino Bernardi, Manila director of the CBCP’s Apostleship of the Sea (AOS), said the proposal by Pilar Juliana “Pia" Cayetano was discriminatory. “There is a stigma attached to this for returning OFWs. Why would they be discriminated upon? Statistics do not support that they are the majority of AIDS carriers," Bernardi said in an interview with GMANews.TV. “If that is the argument, why not make the test obligatory to all Filipinos?" he said. “And you can start with the congressmen." ‘Huge chunk’ In her proposal, Cayetano said that returning OFWs need to be asked about their sexual behavior while working abroad as she claimed that a “huge chunk of (HIV) cases come from OFWs" and “there is no strong program" to address the problem. “There is...

MANILA, Philippines - A New York-based international human rights organization has criticized Saudi Arabia “for backsliding on human rights," which allegedly resulted in the suffering of thousands of female overseas domestic workers from “injustices in courts." Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed that many of these 1.5-million strong workers who mostly come from the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia have suffered abuse from their employers. However, hundreds of “severe" cases yearly involving employers who withhold salaries of workers for years, physically and sexually attack domestics, or keep them in “virtual slavery" are not being tried in court, according to HRW. “Many cases never go to trial, as workers are unable to contact their embassies, are unfamiliar with the legal system, or have been threatened with spurious counter-charges of theft, witchcraft, or adultery," said the organization in an article it uploaded on its Web site last September ...

MANILA, Philippines - About 500 representatives from government agencies and international and local non-government organizations on Thursday participated in a two-day conference in Pasay City to promote the rights of migrant women. Myrna T. Yao, chairperson of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, said one of the goals of the event is to find ways on how countries could be compelled to protect the rights of migrant women who are often victims of exploitation. “Applying a gender lens to migration patterns can contribute to identifying ways to enhance the positive aspects of migration and mitigate the negative effects, as well as promote gender equality in both sending and receiving countries," she said in a statement. “Since women are vulnerable to human rights abuses, countries must implement safeguards to protect and promote the rights of women migrants," added Yao, deputy minister of the International Conference on Gender, Migration and Development, which ...

MANILA, Philippines — Six men allegedly involved in "short-changing" overseas Filipino workers and other clients of foreign exchange shops in Ermita district were arrested by police on Thursday. Sr. Supt. Pablo Francisco Balagtas, chief of the Manila Police District’s Mobile Force (DMF), identified the arrested suspects as 54-year old Billy Akmad and his sons Odan, 22, and Randy, 23, along with Lauro Santiago, 18;Joseph Gomez, 23; and Rogie Unay, 22. In a report to Balagtas, DMF DMF Intelligence and Investigation Section chief Senior Police Officer 4 Benjamin Abad said the suspects were rounded up from different money changers along Mabini St., corner Sta. Monica St. in Ermita. Abad said Balagtas ordered the crackdown amid complaints of rampant short-changing in certain foreign exchange centers. Last August 7, a Filipino-Dutch identified as Jasmin Cruz-Van Schaik complained that she was shortchanged by 180,000 pesos at Len Money Changer along A. Mabini St. in Malate District....

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine vice president called Thursday for added safeguards for Filipino seamen following a sharp increase in the number of attacks by Somali pirates on foreign ships. Records from the office of Vice President Noli de Castro show that 117 Filipino crewmen have been seized by Somali pirates in 11 attacks since April. The pirates have released some Filipino hostages unharmed but are still holding 96 and have not released the body of one who had been killed in still undisclosed circumstances. There were 20 Filipinos seized in one incident in 2006 and 10 in two attacks last year. The Philippines is one of the largest suppliers of crewmen in the international shipping industry. Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said he had no immediate figures to compare the number of Filipinos with seamen from other countries still held by Somali pirates. In a statement Thursday, de Castro said Filipino seamen should have the option to continue with a voyage through "...

Last 18 September 2008, OWWA entered a new era when Carmelita Dimzon was sworn in by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Roque as OWWA's tenth Administrator. Dimzon is also OWWA's first woman administrator. Dimzon, a native of Pampanga, graduated magna cum laude in 1968 with a degree in Bachelor of Arts major in English and minor in Philospophy at the University of Santo Tomas. She proceeded to earn her Masters in Public Administration in 1980 and her Doctorate degree in the same field in 2003, at the University of the Philippines. Administrator Dimzon addressing the OWWA family last 22 September 2008. Prior to joining OWWA, Administrator Dimzon served as deputy administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) where she worked for the past twenty-six (26) years. Earlier, she first joined the DOLE family as a senior management officer of the Institute of Labor and Manpower Science in 1979. The appointment of Administrator Dimzon also saw ...

By ROSE ECLARINAL, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau SWANSEA, Wales -- For many Filipinos scattered around the world, nothing compares to a sumptuous meal of adobo, kaldereta or sinigang. Pinoy food always brings back memories of home. For 36-year-old Beth Boorman, it was an opportunity she did not miss. She has found a niche market in Swansea by tapping the Pinoy taste buds. It was her own need to find Filipino food ingredients and local food for her household requirements that paved the way for the opening of her own store in Swansea more than nine years ago, with the assistance of her Welsh husband. Boorman’s store, which is housed in her garage, is the only Filipino store in town. She fondly recalled how she started selling just six items of Pinoy goods. Then, her friends also started to flood her house with requests for more. “Pag may meeting kami, may gathering kaming Pinay, dinadala ko lang ang sasakyan ko. Nakasupot lang yan. Dati, namimili lang ako sa Earl’s Court (London). Nalama...

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/24/2008 1:37 AM A mall tour promoting a car remittance program catering to families of overseas Filipinos will kick off September 25 in key commercial centers in Metro Manila. Honda Cars Philippines, Inc on Tuesday said its "Honda CAREmittance" program mall tour display will be shown at the Upper Ground Floor, Building A of SM Megamall. “Honda CAREmittance Program eliminates distance barriers and offers ease of application in our fast-paced times. Through this pioneer program, Filipinos overseas can buy a Honda vehicle even while they are away,” Honda said. Designed for Filipino overseas, the CAREremittance display will also feature the all new Honda Jazz and the CR-V vehicles. Under the program, Filipinos abroad can conveniently purchase a brand new Honda vehicle for their families in the Philippines through online application. By filling out CAREmittance Application form from the www.hondaphil.com link, interested buyers may acquire his or her ideal Hon...

By MA. ALETA O. NIEVA, abs-cbnNEWS Overseas Filipinos are urged to be prepared for the effects of the global financial crisis and have access to safe and sound financial instruments where they can invest their hard-earned money. “We better prepare. For now, it’s the US that is feeling the brunt. What if it spills over to other countries where there are Filipinos?” said Prof. Jeremiah Opiniano, executive director of the Institute of Migration and Development Issues. Opiniano spoke in a conference on Managing the Development Impact of International Migration organized by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Tuesday in Makati City. ”I am not an economist, but I guess there is a rule called the law of diminishing returns. So if one goes up, it will surely go down,” Opiniano said. During his trip to a European country he noticed that some Filipinos have already felt the financial crunch. A train ticket, which used to cost 120 euros before, is now 160 euros. “What mor...

by MARIA ALETA NIEVA, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/24/2008 12:06 PM Not all overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) can become overnight entrepreneurs upon their return to the Philippines, according to a corporate foundation executive. “There is this thinking that all returning OFWs can come back and suddenly become entrepreneurs, and so therefore, we should encourage them to put their money in a business when they return,” said Guillermo Luz, executive vice president of the Ayala Foundation-USA (AF-USA). Luz delivered a paper on “Alternatives for Making the Most Out of Remittances: The Ayala Foundation Case” at a conference on Managing the Development Impact of International Migration held Tuesday in Makati City. “This is the one where I always wave a big flag of caution,” he said, adding that only a “very few of them (OFWs)" were entrepreneurs before coming home. He explained that there is the danger of former OFWs losing all their hard earned money, and they might even regret coming back. “Th...

MANILA, Philippines - The continuing downturn in the US economy affecting global credit should not yet alarm overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and the government, according to a member of the influential Makati Business Club (MBC). MBC’s Guillermo Luz, executive vice president of the Ayala Foundation, Inc, said there was no reason yet for the government to use remittance from OFWs to shield the Philippine economy from the impact of the recession in the US. “The impact is quite minimal in the Philippines so remittance or no remittance there is nothing to shield us from anything," Luz told GMANews.TV in an interview on Tuesday. Luz downplayed the perception of watchdog Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), which earlier said that OFW remittances “are being threatened" by the recession. “The global threat is yet to be known," Luz said. “It's in a stage where it's a little to early to tell but it's no excuse not to study it now." The FDC said OFW remittances “are...

MANILA, Philippines - The government has called local manning agencies for a meeting to address the worsening problem on the continued abduction of Filipino seafarers near Somalia. “I have called the manning agencies and we are meeting at the Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines office in Intramuros to assess the situation and discuss possible measures how to avoid such incident," said Marianito Roque, secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment. Palace officials on Monday said concerned government agencies were carefully studying the possibility of a deployment ban amid the hijacking of another Greek ship near Somalia that was boarded by 17 Filipino seafarers. A total of eight ships with Filipino crew members have been hijacked in African waters since July this year. At least 97 Filipino seamen have been abducted in the Horn of Africa since July 2008. Asked if he thinks that imposing the ban would be a good move to prevent the abduction of Fil...

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government has advised its citizens against boarding ships that will pass through Somali waters, where 97 Filipino seafarers have been abducted since July 2008. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the government issued the advisory while it was carefully studying whether it would ban Filipino seafarers from boarding ships crossing Somali waters. "All we can say is give out an advisory to be sure that whenever they travel from one place to another, they will not take a merchant or a commercial vessel passing through Somalian waters. That's the most we can do for the moment," Ermita told reporters on Tuesday in an interview after the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Torture workshop at the Traders' Hotel in Manila. Senator Manuel Roxas II on Monday called for the creation of a Philippine crisis team that would be stationed in Somalia to provide help to Filipino seamen who might become victims of piracy t...

MANILA, Philippines - Not many Filipinos abroad are availing of dual citizenship being offered under a five-year-old law, according to an official of the Commission on Overseas Filipinos (CFO). Golda Roma, acting deputy executive director of the CFO, said most Filipinos who have become foreign citizens have not renewed their Philippine citizenship. “We have a gap in our data because Filipinos who have acquired foreign citizenship are not required to register as Filipino citizens," Roma told GMANews.TV in an interview on Tuesday. Republic Act No. 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act was passed in August 2003. But the Philippine government only started processing applications for dual citizenship in April 2004 after the Office of the President designated the Bureau of Immigration as the lead implementing agency of the law. A dual citizen is given the right to hold Philippine passport, vote in Philippine elections, and own real properties in the Philippines. They ...

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Embassy officials in Muscat, Oman met with some 1,000 Filipinos stranded at the Al-Buraimi border in Oman Tuesday in a bid to repatriate them. Online news site Khaleej Times reported Wednesday that the 1,000 Filipinos were stranded at the Buraimi Hotel. Philippine Consul General Lamberto Monsanto and labor attaché Romeo Yang in Muscat led the team, which conducted interviews and verifications on the statuses of the stranded Filipinos. Aminah Marduen, coordinator of the Philippine embassy on the border, said the number of stranded Filipinos is much higher than those who had come out in the open. But Marduen admitted the number was not accurate as many were hiding because of absence of visa or non-possession of their passports. "Circumstances mentioned by stranded Filipinos vary in degree with the hotels asking them to deposit their passports at the time of checking in," she said. Sylvia, 29, a nursery supervisor assistant in a school in Dubai, ...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Tuesday to reward more than 18,000 Filipinos belatedly for their service with U.S. forces in the Philippines during World War II. Amounts involved fall far short of what they and tens of thousands of their Filipino brothers-in-arms were promised for their service. Filipinos made a major contribution to the U.S. defense of its colony and its recovery from Imperial Japanese forces as the United States military machine moved back toward Japan. As passed, the "Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2008," which passed 382-23, would make one-time payments of $15,000 to Filipinos who are U.S. citizens and $9,000 to non-U.S. Filipino veterans. The Senate passed a bill on veterans' affairs in April that provided pensions for many of the surviving veterans but has not acted on the House-passed legislation. That legislation now goes to the Senate, where senators either could pass the House version or meet in a conference co...